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2004/10/29, 12:55 PM
I been seing this alot, so just gonna give a lil info on the different methods.
The scales......scales use electrical indepandance, a small harmless electrical impulse travels through your body,why? Water conducts electricty, muscle is like 90% water, that is how your percentage is found. This can be inaccurate however.
1. If you drink alot of water, are sweety , wet or have a full bladder before weighing, it(the scale) will think that,that "conductivity" is muscle, and its not.Making you more lean.
2. If your dehydrated, just woke up,or have clothes on. It will show a higher body fat %, because you have less water in you, and the cloths even though not wet still have mass( very little) but the electrical pulse doesn't know that, so it sees that(the clothes) as "fat" because it doesn't conduct electricity.Don't weigh in morning, even though you weigh less, because as you breath you lose a lil bit of water( respiration) and your dehydrated more than you think.
This makes you "fatter"
tips....weigh at night before you go to bed, your usally hydrated,and your food has been digested. However these scales because of all this can be from 3-6% inaccurate.
caipers.... Calipers pinch the fat/skin around your body, to measure the fat untop of your muscles. Subcausious fat?(sp)...anyways the fat that is just unde ryour skin lol. This is fairly accurate.....usally about 1-3% for 5 point maybe 4% for 3 point.There are also inaccurataties too.
(point means how many places are pinched)
1.It measures fat just under the skin, not intercellar fat(fat inbetween muscle fibers) nor fat around organs( most dangerous kind). Sat at 1st your 20% body fat, and the next time you get it done you have 15%, you have lose body fat, however, you still have fat around your organs.....not good. And vice versa, you can lose fat around your organs, and only drop 1% body fat, but loseing that fat is beter for you that the fat just under the skin.
2. If you have loose skin, liek me from losing alot of weight, from long ago, when they pinch, they are getting more skin than actually fat, so this apears you have fat, but realy don't. IF you have loose skin, try and get 5point caliper test done, it seems more accurate then just 3 point.
Under water weighting.......this is one of the most accurate ways, however the most expensive. Since you have to have a lab, big tank, stuff like that. Some universities might do it for free, if you do it for a class or somthing as a "test" subject.
But it works by, fat floats in water, and muscel sinks, more boyant you are, more fat. Less byoyant les syou float.
1. only way i can see this as an inaccuracy is the air in your body, air of coarse floats, and since you have a resedual(sp?)( air in lungs that can't be exhailed) in yoru lung at all times you will be a lil boyant.
*example get in apull and exhail all the air out of your lungs, you should actually sink to the botom) I think the most this way could be inaccurate would be 1%maybe.
cadevor test......you have to be dead for this one.....so no one would do this lol. But You';d have to be cut open, all the fat removed and weighed, blah blah blah who cares huh?
Hope this helps a little bit, so at least your understanding of the different methods.
:dumbbell: :dumbbell:
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....I'm probably in my underwear typing this......or maybe not!
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